ABSTRACT
Breast cancer metastasises to bone in over 70% of patients with advanced disease, at which point the disease is incurable. 1 Preclinical studies provided evidence that bisphosphonates may have an effect on the primary breast tumour as well as being effective in the treatment of cancer spread to bone. 2 The main objective of the Adjuvant Zoledronic Acid to Reduce Recurrence (AZURE) study was to assess the potential anti-tumour effect (and safety) of adding the bisphosphonate zoledronic acid to standard adjuvant systemic therapy, in patients with stage II or III breast cancer. The study identified a significant disease-free survival (DFS) advantage of treatment with zoledronic acid in postmenopausal breast cancer patients, but not in premenopausal patients. Together with other data, this resulted in adjuvant zoledronic acid becoming a recommended treatment option for postmenopausal breast cancer patients.
